CES Moment of Zen: Awkward hugs

LAS VEGAS--Today being Press Day, or Day Zero as we refer to it, we fully expected it to be a whirlwind of press conferences and big announcements. In that, we weren't disappointed. What we didn't expect was all the awkward hugging.

All day we expected the following photo to win our CES Moment of Zen honors by a landslide. Dish, as you may or may not have heard, brought a baby kangaroo on stage for its press conference. The kangaroo's name was Joey (clever!) and the product tie-in was its extremely impressive new DVR, the Hopper. I mean, who can beat a baby kangaroo, right?

Dish CEO Joe Clayton snuggles with Joey, a kangaroo, at the Dish press conference at CES 2012.
James Martin/CNET

But truth be told, the kangaroo encounter left us feeling a little empty inside. Joey didn't look thrilled to be there. And as it turns out, baby kangaroos are a little creepy-looking. So we hoped something else would come along. Then we saw this.

Yes, that's MC Ryan Seacrest giving Steve Ballmer a great, big, joyful bear hug as he welcomes him onto the stage for the Microsoft keynote address that took place tonight. It was a priceless moment of awkwardness that always seems to be present when celebrities come hang around with us nerds. But it wasn't the best photo our shooter took from that event. My favorite was this one, and it is what I offer up as your CES Moment of Zen for Day Zero of CES 2012.

Ryan Seacrest (left) and Steve Ballmer at what Microsoft says will be its last appearance at CES.
James Martin/CNET